Our association is a robust and diverse set of educators, students, researchers, medical professionals, volunteers and academics that come from all walks of life and from around the globe. Each month we choose a member to highlight their academic and professional career and see how they are making the best of their membership in IAMSE. This month’s Featured Member is Elisabeth Schlegel.
Elisabeth Schlegel, MS, PhD, MBA, MS (HPPL)
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Associate Professor, Science Education; Assistant Director, Faculty Development and Medical Education Research
How long have you been a member of IAMSE?
I have been a member of IAMSE since 2016.
Looking at your time with the Association, what have you most enjoyed doing? What are you looking forward to? Committee involvement, conference attendance, WAS series, manuals, etc.?
I have always enjoyed the great opportunities for spirited collaboration with colleagues and students who all share the same interests and passions. This has been a fabulous and productive journey, since we are all working toward the same goal– advancing health professions education through teacher development. This September 2021 also marks one year of service on the IAMSE Student Professional Development Committee, and I hope I will add many years and help many students not only learn the skills but also find their own individual strengths, styles, and voices to become masterful medical educators. I recently joined the IAMSE Fellowship to renew and improve my approach to scholarship adding specialized educational skills such as multimedia education, which became an important mode of education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, I am excited to help and serve when needed to expand the impact of IAMSE on health sciences education. I look forward to attending the 2022 conference in Denver!
What interesting things are you working on outside the Association right now? Research, presentations, etc.
My role as Assistant Director, Faculty Development and Medical Education Research, includes developing and executing programs to support faculty in delivering basic science and clinical content across the continuum of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education. This role allows me the privilege of working with renowned experts from our affiliated expansive healthcare system, Northwell Health. I am invested in coaching our expert faculty to include active pedagogy and unlock their potential to use active learning at the medical school. I am also involved in other faculty development initiatives, such as a new video-based faculty onboarding program, or my medical education blog, eBites (http://elisabeth-fm-schlegel.weebly.com/elearning-bites). I have a great interest in interdisciplinarity and insights on innovation in education and aim to encourage and assist medical and science educators as well as students as they try new teaching methodologies, develop and deploy educational curricula, and improve sections of already existing programs.
Looking back at your time during your graduate studies and early career, if you could give your younger self a piece of advice what would it be?
During my Ph.D. training at the University of Salzburg, Austria, I had two great mentors who enabled me to take on teaching microbiology and biotechnology education to science teacher students and seasoned science teachers at the university as well as at pedagogical institutes. Science teaching for secondary education also included learner team building, project assignments, and student speaker training. These experiences were incredibly formative and showed me the opportunities and challenges in education. I later gained additional knowledge as an assistant professor at a liberal arts university in the U.S., but my methods to organize learners into teams and have them co-teach with me were markedly successful! Thus, my advice to students who are involved in teaching would be to: (1) reach out and share best practices across the university and beyond as early as possible, and (2) include your learners in the educational process.
Anything else that you would like to add?
I am very thankful for the pleasure and privilege to be part of such a fantastic, vibrant community! Thank you, IAMSE.